Bone with a badly healed
fracture

From Abydos, EgyptNew
Kingdom, about 1550-1070 BC

Evidence of diseases and injuries can be found
in both mummies and skeletons from ancient Egypt. Among the most
common injuries are fractures. Most of these heal well, and the
injured limb functioned normally once it had healed. From the Old
Kingdom (about 2613-2160 BC) onwards, wooden splints were used to
prevent the bones from moving, and to discourage the injured person
from using the limb while it
healed.

However, there were
no plaster casts to support the bone and prevent it taking any
weight. This meant that if any weight was put on the limb, the two
ends of the bone might slip past each other and fuse out of
alignment, as has happened with this bone. The healed limb would
have been completely sound, but considerably shorter than the
uninjured leg, so that the individual would have walked with a
permanent limp.

Fractures
to the thigh bones were less common than those to the arms, but
required a longer period of healing.
X-rays
of King Merenptah (reigned 1213-1203 BC) of the 19th Dynasty show
that the heads of both his femurs had been fractured. This type of
injury is common among the elderly, often due to falls, consistent
with the fact that Merenptah assumed the throne after he was fifty
years old.